Close Quarters
by a red burn
Summary: Tag fic to one of the finale's sneak peek. Neal wants to have lunch with Sara.


Tag fic to the finale's sneak peek. There are no spoilers but it won't make much sense if you haven't watched it.

He had purposely sat next to her in the conference room; his chair slightly angled towards her, closer than it had been placed, his leg rubbing against hers every now and then, distracting her attention and earning her curious looks whenever her speech faltered. The shivers running up her leg and giving her goosebumps less than convenient, the fluttering in her chest reminding her of his lips against hers and his hands on her face and his chest against hers and warm breaths and soft moans.

She tried to concentrate on the words Peter was speaking, on the facts she would relay to them once he was done, but the thoughts around her head had nothing to do with her findings and nothing to do with the information being shared, but with the soft fingers sneaking around her hand under the table and the warmth the gesture spread through her body and the soft rustle of clothes still ringing in her ears.

She smacked his hand away and tried to contain her smile when he smirked. It was unbelievable how smug and full of himself he could be, but while infuriating she had admitted to herself it was something that made him so charming. And hot. Ignoring, of course, how well fit he was, how blue and deep his eyes could be when she looked right into them, how soft his hands were and how good he smelled.

Sara cursed herself and hoped her annoyance didn't show; this should be a moment of professionalism, and being close to Neal, having him touch her as if she had given him permission, was making her dizzy and distracted.

"Have lunch with me." There wasn't a question in his voice, but in the whispered and secretive tone there was a hint of nervousness and she wanted to say yes simply because he looked so hopeful.

Peter had his back to them as drew something on the whiteboard and she took the opportunity to lean closer to Neal. "Maybe," she whispered back and he smiled, probably taking that as a yes, which, if she had to be honest, was exactly that. That didn't mean she couldn't play a little first and as usual Neal was more than eager to join in.

"What do I have to do to get a yes?"

_Nothing_, she wanted to say, because just having his breath fan over her cheek and his heat touch her skin was more than enough to earn her way into his bed; she'd never admit it to him though, would never let him know he had her so easy.

He had settled down a little once Peter had turned back to them and gave the spotlight to Sara, her turn to debrief the group concerning her findings. She didn't have to get up or move from her seat in any way, and it was a little disappointing, she had hoped to get away from Neal at least for a while, at least long enough to take a deep breath and gather her bearings. She discovered later that none of it would have been necessary as Neal seemed to behave himself throughout the rest of the meeting; his undivided attention had been a bit unsettling, though.

He grabbed her hand to prevent her from leaving the room once the meeting was done and there were sparks that shot within her like electric waves down to her toes. Peter had lingered behind with them to go over the finer details and as soon as he had set foot out of the door Neal hadn't wasted a minute.

She didn't pull her hand way this time, instead her fingers curled around his without permission and he pulled her to him; she wanted to step back, give a little space between but there was something that forced her to stay just where she was, that kept her rooted to the ground.

"Lunch?"

"Fine," she relented, knowing it'd be useless to say no, knowing she _didn't want_ to say no. She leaned forward, moving her face close to his until their lips were mere inches apart, and stared into his eyes, amazed as she always was at how blue they were; she didn't miss when his breath caught and his hand held hers tighter. "You still owe me one so I'm not paying for anything."

"Who said anything about paying?" The smirk was back and sometimes she wanted to wipe it off his face with her fist even while she smiled back at him.

"Rooftop?"

He winked, the smirk firmly in place and when he let go of her hand she felt a coldness she shouldn't have, she immediately missed the feel of his skin against her and not for the first time she wondered what was happening to her. "I'll meet you there in ten minutes," he said and left the room, looking back a moment later with a smug smile on his face.


End file.
